Do the Democrats fear Fred Thompson

Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute writes today about several attempts by Democrats and their supporters to rough up Fred Thompson before he even gets into the race. This is rather odd for the partisans of one party to start attacking a competitor in the other party's primary race. And it is an indication that they are a bit afraid of Thompson. Meanwhile, reporters and perhaps partisans from both sides are poring over his senatorial papers which he had donated to the University of Tennessee. So far most of what they've found that they think are newsworthy nuggets relate to surveys that he answered for particular groups as he was running for election. None of his answers seems particularly damning to me. For example, he said that he opposed criminalizing women who get abortions. Perhaps there are pro-life people out there who are in favor of criminalizing such women, but I've never heard of anyone who said that. If it weren't that political reporters were news-starved, I don't think there is much newsworthy in these slight hiccups from conservative dogma in Thompson's answers. But, as Peter Brown writes, he should be prepared for questions, perhaps better prepared than he was for the allegation that he'd done some lobbying for a pro-choice group back in 1991.

The coming months will show whether Thompson can take a hit and keep on fighting.

And, if he is smart, he will look both to the right and the left when he is crossing the street.